L is for Loophole
by Hikari Alta
Summary: This is my attempt to reconcile the last movie- "L- Change the World" with the Anime. I don't even try to tie-in the second movie... L returns, and treads a fine line between being a human and being a shinigami. L x Maki, Maki x Near, implied L x Light.
1. Chapter 1 Double Indemnity

Chapter 1- Double Indemnity

"What did you say your name was again, young man?" The older gentleman adjusted his glasses and looked at the young boy with kindly eyes.

"He called me Near." The little boy replied.

"Ahh. Near. Yes. L told me about…" At that moment, the man held his hand to the receiver in his ear.

"Yes, L. You have a visitor… Ahh. I understand."

The old man turned to the child. "I'm sorry, Near. I've got to go and retrieve someone for L. Could you please wait in here for a couple of minutes?"

The little boy nodded. The man left, and the door to the room clicked shut softly behind him. The little boy looked at the monitors on the wall. He understood that this room was special, that it somehow controlled access to the rest of the building. He walked over to the pad on the wall, and began entering numbers. In minutes, the soft click of the door unlocking sounded, and the little boy slipped out into the hall. He followed the hall into another large room with screens on the wall. As he looked around, he heard voices coming nearer. He scooted into the knee space of a desk and hid. From his hiding place, he watched as L and some people he didn't recognize entered. He heard them talking, and then L collapsed onto the floor, dropping a spoon as he fell. Without thinking, Near stuck his hand out of the knee space, and grabbed on to L's ankle. A look of surprise washed over the boy's face at the exact moment L softly exhaled his last breath.

*****

"Ryuk, this is all your fault, you know." O-Baku rumbled in his thunderous voice. The ruler of the Shikigami was a grotesque parody of an octopus with a bony, human head. He thrashed his tentacles in obvious displeasure.

"I had no idea _this_ would happen." Ryuk said, jerking a thumb at the man and small boy who lay on the bare, cracked ground, their bodies partially obscured by the foul yellow mist that swirled around them.

"Well it _**has**_ happened, and something must be done." O-Baku said in a low growl.

The man on the ground began to stir. He scratched is head, mussing his dark hair even more.

"The note user awakens." O-Baku boomed.

L looked around, the impassive expression on his face hiding his surprise. "Am I dead? I must be. Either that, or I'm hallucinating."

"This is no hallucination, I assure you." Ryuk said, his preternaturally wide smile revealing pointy teeth. "You are in the realm of the Shikigami. Your misuse of the Death Note has landed you here."

"My misuse? I wrote my name in it. Isn't that how it's supposed to work?" L inquired.

"Under normal conditions, yes. But in this instance, another Death Note was used to kill you at the exact second your Death Note was activated. Because one note may not override another, the system was overloaded. So now you're here. And that's bad, because no human is ever supposed to set foot in the realm of the shikigami." Ryuk said as he looked intently at L.

"What is the child doing here?" O-Baku bellowed.

"Are you asking me? I don't really know. I think I remember him touching my ankle as I fell. Perhaps because of the unusual circumstances of my death, and the close contact he had with me at that instant, he was transported here in the same way I was." L offered.

"The whole thing seems pretty unfortunate, if you ask me." Ryuk said as he slowly walked around L and Near.

"No one did!" O-Baku bellowed. "Now it is up to me to sort out this mess. First, the child." O-Baku held one of his tentacles out over Near.

"The child is clean. There is no malice, no wish for death in him. There is nothing to bind him to this realm. I can send him back to the Earth with no memory of this incident. But time moves differently in this realm than on Earth. A year down there is a moment here. Since he was alive when he entered, his life processes have been speeded up. I can see the effect of the time dilation all ready." O-Baku said.

All eyes went to Near, who had, in the few moments they were speaking, grown several inches.

"I will return him now, to minimize the effect of the time dilation, but he will still go back several years older than when he started." With that, O-Baku waved his tentacle over Near again, and Near vanished.

"Now. For the one who used the note. I cannot return you to life, nor can I release you to death. You have touched the Realm of the Shikigami with a wish for death. That makes you, by default, a shikigami. But since you did not use the note with malice in your heart, you will not be transformed fully- you will retain your human form and spirit as long as you do not kill with malice. But if you kill with malice, or give others the chance to kill with malice, the transformation will be complete. The darkness in your heart will twist your body and your spirit. As a shikigami, you will have the burden of a Death Note. It will torment you, as it torments us." O-Baku said with a solemn look.

"As for you, Ryuk." O-Baku said, narrowing his eyes. "You have caused this thing. Why couldn't you content yourself with games of chance? No, you must learn a lesson." O-Baku waved a tentacle again, and the two Death Notes L had destroyed materialized in the air. "There will be no rest for you, Ryuk. First, I will reverse your last five kills- you will get no benefit in years from them. Next, I will return these to their owners at the time of destruction. Your ambition will be your undoing."

"O-Baku. I am not questioning your wisdom or your judgment, but one of my last five kills was Light Yagami, the man who started this whole mess. He makes me look like a slacker in the killing department. He also happens to be the last owner of one of those notes. The cycle that led to this disruption may begin again. I also wonder if breaking one of the rules of the note is advisable. If you…"

"Silence!" O-Baku roared. He levitated in the air, and slowly turned in circles. "It is your responsibility to see that the cycle does not continue, Ryuk. You will spend your days keeping the balance and order. If you do not, you will pay the price."

"Yes, Vengeful One." Ryuk said as he bowed in O-Baku's direction.

"Then let it be done! Note user, you will return to the Earth with your notebook. Use it more wisely than this one." O-Baku jerked a tentacle in Ryuk's direction, then spun away at an astonishing rate.

L held his book between his thumb and forefinger as he examined it. A large hunch-backed shikigami with long dragging arms passed by. One of his arms caught the edge of the notebook as he passed, and the notebook hurtled through the foul yellow mist.

"Oops." The ponderous shikigami said as he continued on his way.

"Fain!" Ryuk yelled as the other shikigami passed. "How could you!"

"Hmph. Its not my fault this skin sack is up here, Ryuk. Blame yourself." Fain replied.

"Relax. It just dropped on the ground. I'll find it in a minute." L said as he peered through the mist.

Ryuk looked at L and shook his head. "You don't get it. When a shikigami drops a Death Note, it falls all the way down. Down to Earth. Things just got a lot more complicated."

Fain lumbered back in L's direction. "I wasn't trying to start something. I didn't realize you were a new Shikigami. You look funny- still a skin sack. I've got an extra Note- I won it off of old Bulware. Here- have it. No hard feelings?"

"None. In fact, I'm not sure what to feel at all. Not at this point." L said mildly as he took the Death Note from Fain's long fingers.

"Just hope someone bloodthirsty doesn't find your note," Ryuk said, "Or you'll never feel anything again."


	2. Chapter 2 Double Take

Chapter 2- Double Take

A car honked its horn as it narrowly avoided L. He staggered through the lane of traffic, looked around wildly, and realized that he must be back on Earth. He dodged another car, and jumped onto the curb. He leaned up against a light pole as two girls walking past gave him wide berth and giggled as they went by. He looked down, and realized that he was still grasping the Death Note Fain had given him. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with it, but he knew he needed to study the situation more closely. He made his way to headquarters.

When he got to the building he had custom-designed to be his headquarters for the Kira investigation, he stopped dead in his tracks. Above the door, written in brass letters was the name "Amori Global Holdings, Inc." He pushed open the glass doors, and stepped into a bustling lobby. He looked around, and then quietly exited the building.

"Something's not right." He said to no one in particular. "Why are there people in my…" He stopped, as a look of understanding briefly flashed across his face. "Time dilation. I was up there a lot longer than Near."

L stepped back, and looked at his reflection in the glass doors.

"I don't look any older… It must be because I wasn't technically alive when I entered the shikigami realm. I'm not even sure I'm technically alive now. I'm a shikigami…who isn't, really. How confusing. I need some sweets. Perhaps a dough-kabob…" L muttered to himself as he shuffled off in the direction of his favorite local bakery.

When he was seated at a table under the awning in front of the bakery with his two bags of doughnuts, he tried to sort out his thoughts. "_OK. I died, or did something closely approximating dying. I ended up in the Shikigami realm, where time moves differently than on Earth…"_ He stopped, and looked around. He flagged down a young man passing by the table.

"Excuse me! Could you tell me the date?" He asked the man.

The man stopped, and replied. "Sure. It's the 14th."

"No. I mean the year. What year is it?" L asked.

The man looked L up and down, his gaze lingering on the chopstick that he had been using to skewer doughnuts . "Uh, are you serious? It's 2011."

"Thank you." L said as the man walked away, shaking his head.

"2011. It was 2005 when I 'died'. Six years. Six years passed while I was in the shikigami realm. That explains the building. I wonder what has become of everyone on the team? When Light died, were they reassigned? Light Yagami. He has returned to this life as well." L mused as chewed thoughtfully.

L finished his doughnut and stood up. He casually tossed a crumb to a bird that had landed on the sidewalk nearby. The bird suddenly collapsed in a heap. L stared at the bird as he picked up another crumb from the table and sniffed it. Satisfied that the crumb wasn't tainted, he threw it on the ground for another bird to peck. The second bird collapsed as quickly as the first. L stopped, and looked at his hand. He spied a fly crawling on the back of his chair, and waved his hand over it. The fly fell to the ground.

"_So. It's not the doughnut. It's me. This must be a side effect of my quasi-shikigami status. I must not need the note to kill; not small things, anyway. I'll need to remember that." _L thought to himself as he grabbed the remaining bag of doughnuts from the table. _"But now, I need to find that other Death Note. I'm not sure where to start looking. If someone finds it and starts using it, I'll be able to track it. But if that happens, I probably won't be me anymore, either."_

L's mind churned furiously as he walked. He was only beginning to understand his powers as a partial shikigami. Perhaps he had some innate connection to the Note, or some way to track it he hadn't discovered yet. As he considered the possibilities, he failed to pay attention to where he was walking. He collided with a woman who was juggling a grocery sack and a small dog.

"Oh, no!" the woman cried out as they made contact.

"Sorry. I was preoccupied. I didn't see you." L said as he straightened up a bit to look at the woman.

"All of my cans fell out of the bag! Here! Hold Jenny while I pick them up!" she said as she thrust the small Chihuahua at L.

"Um, I don't think…" L trailed off as the woman pressed the little dog to his chest. He stuck his arms out to catch the animal. When it hit his arms, its head lolled to the side.

"Jenny. Jenny! What did you do to her? Oh, my little sweetie…" The woman cried as the animal hung limply from L's arms.

"Uhh… um, I told you, I'm not so good with animals." L stuttered as he handed the dog's body back to the distraught woman. He lowered his head, and shuffled off as quickly as his awkward gate would allow.

"I've got to get off the street" L mumbled to himself. "I'm a danger to everyone until I figure this thing out."

There was only one place he knew to turn to at a time like this. He made his way carefully to the branch of Wammy's House in Tokyo.


	3. Chapter 3 Double Back

Chapter 3- Double Back

L was out of breath when he reached Wammy's house. The Tokyo branch of the famous orphanage for gifted children was situated behind a high gate on a quiet side street. Much to his relief, L did not believe that he had inadvertently killed anything on his way over. "Well, except for that crow. It did dive pretty sharply." L mused to himself as he shook his head.

When he announced himself through the intercom system mounted on the gate, his words were greeted with stunned silence. Eventually, the voice on the other end crackled through.

"Is this a joke? If it is, it isn't a very funny one."

"Here." L said as he straightened up and looked directly into the camera. "It's L. I'll explain it all to everyone. Is Wattari in?"

The voice sounded thin and tinny through the speaker. "You had better come in."

A buzzer sounded, and the gate swung open. L walked into the orphanage's yard. Children were scattered around the lawn singly and in groups. They all looked so young. L didn't recognize any of them. _"Six years is a long time in the development of a child."_ L thought as he slouched up the stairs leading to the front door of the building.

At the head of the stairs was a young man with platinum blonde hair. As L got closer, he realized the young man, who couldn't be more than 19 or 20, actually had white hair.

"It wasn't a dream." The young man said solemnly to L.

"I'm not sure what you mean." L replied.

"I'm Near. I was there, L. With those monsters. It wasn't a dream. You were there, too."

"No, Near. It wasn't a dream. Shall we go to the lounge and talk? Where is Wattari?"

Near bowed his head, turned, and lead L to the lounge. After closing the doors, he turned, and looked at L.

"Wattari is dead, L. He died the day…you did."

L blinked rapidly a couple of times, and shifted his weight. "Oh. Yes. I see, now. Light killed Wattari and I both… It makes sense."

"Please…explain to me what happened that day. I have memories, but they are indistinct. When I came back, I was changed. Older… my hair had gone white. I have no memories of the years of my life between age six and age twelve. Or thirteen. I don't know for sure how old I am now." Near said as he looked intensely into L's eyes.

"We were in the realm of the Shnigami. On the day you visited, two separate articles called Death Notes were used to kill me at the same time. I think you touching my body as I died… may have caught you up in the malfunction that paradox caused. "

"I know what Death Notes are. I suspected the monsters I saw that day were shinigami. But why did I come back changed? Why did I age so rapidly?"

"You aged rapidly due to the different rates in which time passes in the shinigami realm as opposed to here on Earth. I do not appear to have aged, because I was technically dead when I visited the realm. Since I was there longer than you, from my perspective, that day and its events only happened earlier this morning. But here on Earth, it has been six years. I'm not sure I understand it all myself right now. I need to conduct further study."

Near sat forward on his seat. "I was supposedly gone for six weeks. Just… gone. They found me wandering the streets one day, older, with my hair turned white. Of course, the people at the orphanage kept the whole thing quiet, and helped me adjust, but… I'm strange, L. I'm a child in a man's body. I may have physically aged, but my mind…"

"I'm so sorry, Near. This whole thing must have been excruciating for you. You were a precocious child to begin with, but a child who had gone through some terrible things. It's no wonder your hair turned white. The stress and shock of it all must have been tremendous."

L and Near sat in silence for a few moments before Near cleared his thought.

"I don't want you to pity me, L. I've learned how to deal with my situation. I even continued the Kira investigation in your absence. Light Yagami is dead. I did have a problem with Mello, but he is now gone, too. "

"Mello? What happened to Mello?" L asked.

"He… We were both seen as possible successors to you. I was chosen. Mello did not handle that well. In the end, I think he realized his own weaknesses, but it wasn't soon enough. The Kira case was concluded successfully, though."

"I am afraid," L said with downcast eyes, "That the Kira case may be reopening soon. As a part of the malfunction, the shinigami Ryuk, who was responsible for Light's death, was forced to relinquish his last five kills. Light was among the five."

"Light Yagami is alive again?" Near said, his voice rising slightly.

"Yes. It would seem that he is. And unfortunately, while Light is fully restored to life, I have become… a sort of shinigami myself. I have a Death Note, and the power to kill by will alone. Sometimes I even kill small things without trying to. Look at the flowers in the vase over there. See how they have wilted? I noticed them drooping as I sat down. It is one of the side effects of my power. Worse yet, my original Death Note was knocked to Earth, and if I don't find it, it could be used by whoever picks it up. I have become, in a cruel twist of fate, a Kira of sorts myself."

"Why can I see you, then? If you are are a shinigami, I mean." Near asked.

"I am not fully a shinigami, yet. I will become one if I kill with malice, or if my Death Note is used to kill with malice. Though I am not sure what will happen to me in that case, I'm going to bet it won't be good. My goal is to keep from becoming a full shinigami. Perhaps I can even find a way to reverse some of the ill effects that were touched off when the Death Notes were misused."

"I will help you in any way I can, of course." Near offered.

"Thank you. Your assistance will be greatly appreciated. At the moment, I must work on understanding and controlling my powers. And I must track down Light. Ironically, I think these two things would be best achieved by a single plan of action. I am going to attempt to contact Misa Amane. If you wouldn't mind, I would like to use your experience with the Kira investigation to begin trying to track down my missing Death Note. I honestly don't know where to start looking, but I do know time is of the essence. If someone finds it and uses it, it will complicate everything."

Near nodded, and stood. "Understood. I will get to work immediately. I still have connections to the former Special Provision for Kira unit, and its detection network. I'll activate it as quickly as possible."

"Good." L said. "I will not be coming here again, until I master my powers. I would not want to put the children at risk. I noticed my old Kira investigation headquarters have been sold to another company. Do you know of any place I might use as a base of operations?"

"I do. I will also have you reinstated into the Wammy networks, and set up an account for you. I can also look up Miss Amane's contact information for you."

"Thank you, Near. I can see why you were chosen as my replacement. You are very competent. I will also need a car and driver- preferably something with tinted windows. I think not looking directly at things might keep me from inadvertently killing them." L said.

"Wait here, L. I'll get what you need."

L nodded once as the white-haired young man left the room.


	4. Chapter 4 Double Time

Chapter 4- Double Time

L rode to the address Near had provided for him in silence. The prospect of seeing Misa Amane again was not a welcome one for L, but he knew it needed to be done. Misa was so impulsive, so reckless, but at the same time, she had wielded the power of a Death Note. She had spent time with shikigami. She knew, and had even been intimate with Light Yagami. Of all the people on Earth, she was the only one he could think of who might have some insight into his situation. Thinking of Misa and Light together sent a chill down L's spine. It forced him to remember his own relationship with Light, and his own intimacies with him.

"_Now is not the time for that."_ L said to himself resolutely. _"I must be completely focused. Any loss of focus now could be devastating."_

When the car stopped, L realized that the large multi- level house in front of him was some sort of residential treatment facility. He walked up to the gate, and saw the words "Falling Rain House- Assisted Living".

"Assisted living? I wonder what has happened to Miss Amane?" L said as he pushed the gate open. The front door opened on to a reception area with a young woman sitting behind a polished wood desk.

"Welcome to Falling Rain House. How may I be of assistance?" The young woman addressed L with a polite smile.

"I'm here to see Miss Amane." L said with a small bow.

The woman's smile wavered a bit. "We have no resident of that name here. Perhaps you would like to speak to our Director, Doctor Daigo?"

"Yes. That would be fine." L responded curtly.

The woman at the desk picked up a phone, and spoke quietly into the receiver. In a moment, an older woman in a white pantsuit appeared in a doorway.

"I am Doctor Daigo. I understand you would like to see me, mister…" the woman trailed off expectantly.

"Ryuzaki." L supplied.

"Mister Ryuzaki. Please come this way."

The doctor led L into a comfortable office with large windows overlooking a garden. A row of white horizontal file cabinets stood against one wall, and a large dark wood desk was pushed up against another. In a corner, two armchairs flanked a small table with a flower arrangement and a box of tissues on it. The doctor sat down in the rolling leather chair in front of the desk, and angled it so it was facing the chairs in the corner.

"Please, sit down, Mr. Ryuzaki."

L looked uncertainly at the chairs in the corner, and perched uncomfortably on the edge of the chair closest to the door. He drew himself up, trying to look as serious and business-like as he could.

"Mr. Ryuzaki, I undertand that you have come here enquiring about a Misa Amane." The doctor began, staring directly into L's eyes.

"Yes. I have. I am an old acquaintance of Miss Amane's. I have business of a personal nature to discuss with her."

The doctor leaned forward slightly in her seat. "Can you elaborate on the nature of your business?"

"I am afraid not. But I can tell you that it is pressing." L replied.

The doctor cleared her throat. "This is a treatment facility, Mr. Ryuzaki. A halfway house. The residents are here because they have suffered traumas which have left them mentally and emotionally…fragile. Many of them are here because they attempted to take their own lives. Some of our residents are prominent people. It is important that we both protect their health and their privacy."

L shook his head solemnly, and held out a card. "I understand. If you wish for someone to vouch for me, please feel free to call this number."

The doctor took the card, and bowed. She dialed her phone, spoke for a moment, and hung up.

"I am sorry, Mr. Ryuzaki. I was not aware that you were a member of the Special Provision for Kira. As I said, it is important to protect our residents. The person you wish to speak to is registered under the name Hana Abe. If you wish to speak to her again in the future, it would be better to request her under that name. Do you have anything on your person that could be used as a weapon?"

The doctor's last question made L flinch. He immediately thought about his Death Note, but realized that was not what the doctor had in mind.

"No, I don't believe so." L replied after a second.

"Miss Abe is close to the end of her stay with us, but even so, we wish to be cautious, and avoid any…setbacks. You may visit her privately in her apartment, but we do ask that you clear any outside excursions with the front desk before you leave. If you do leave the premises, Miss Abe is required to check in every half hour. If she misses a check in, a tracking device is activated, and we will retrieve her."

"I see." L said. As he stood, he glanced at the now-wilted flowers in the arrangement beside the armchair.

"The woman at the front desk will buzz you in to the residential hallway. Miss Abe's apartment is on the second floor- 2A."

L bowed, and walked back out to the reception area. The woman at the front desk put down the phone, and pushed a button under the desk. "Please, go on in, Mr. Ryuzaki." She said with a smile.

L climbed the stairs to the second floor, and knocked on the door marked 2A. Beside the door, written on a small paper label jammed in the holder, was the name "H. Abe".

L heard shuffling sounds from inside the apartment. A moment later, the door opened. Misa peeked around the door. "Who is it? They said it was Ryuzaki, but I know better. The Ryuzaki I know is…dead."

"Misa. I need to speak with you. Don't be alarmed." L said in the most reassuring tone he could muster.

The door opened wider, and L got his first good look at Misa Amane. Never a large girl, Misa now looked almost skeletal. Her long hair, once so shiny and healthy, looked harsh and dull, with dark roots showing. Her clothes were completely different than the gothic Lolita style she had favored in the past. She was wearing a shapeless blue dress with a zip front grey hoodie over it. Her face was pale and drawn, and her eyes looked sunken and dark. She looked at L for a moment, then shook her head. She stepped forward, and with the tip of one finger, tentatively touched his face.

"Are you real, Ryuzaki? They said you were…dead. You were once in charge of the Kira investigation, weren't you? I remember that. You thought I was Kira. Have you come here to arrest me again?" Misa said as she drifted away from the door, and back through the room.

L followed Misa in to the apartment. The walls of the room were white, and a small contemporary sofa and chairs were set up in a grouping in the middle of the room. On the wall was a poster of Misa lying in a bed of red roses, with the words Misa Amane- Love You Forever written across the top.

Misa walked over to the sofa, and sat down. She spokein a mechanical voice."Really, Mr. Ryuzaki, I didn't do it. I'm not Kira."

"Misa. Would you please look at this notebook?" L said as he slid it out from under his shirt.

Misa reached up, and took the Death Note. Immediately upon touching the notebook she blinked, and sat bolt upright. "Where did you…" Misa stopped to flip through the notebook, "get this?"

"It's not yours, Misa. Its mine."

"Light! She said, as she stood upright. Light. My God! What…" Her eyes clouded with tears, and she dropped the notebook to the floor.

"Misa. Is this room private?" L asked as he looked around the room.

"Sure. I mean, I guess it is. On the other hand, I'm in a nut house for trying to off myself, so they might have an interest in knowing what I'm doing." Misa said as she wiped her eyes.

"Let's see." L said as he began to sweep the room. In a minute, he sat down again. "No cameras. One microphone in the lamp. I loosened the wires, so all they'll get is static, but it will seem like a natural glitch."

"What do you really want from me?" Misa said as she eyed L suspiciously. All of the dullness was gone from her eyes.

"I need help in understanding my powers. Since you spent a lot of time with shinigami, I thought you might possess useful information." L said cooly as he unwrapped a licorice whip and bit off a piece.

"Useful information." Misa said, giggling. "Useful information? I doubt it."

"Did you ever speak with your shinigami about how it used its powers?" L asked.

"Hmmm. No. That never really came up. Sorry." Misa said as she flipped around on the sofa, and hung her head over the edge. "Light is dead. I should be too. Now, you've returned to life. Everything in this world is upside down."

"Light is not dead." L said as he finished the licorice, and began on a chocolate bar.

"What?!" Misa squealed as she sat upright. "What do you mean? Tell me more!"

"Not so fast, Misa. I'll tell you all I know, if you tell me what I want to know. Do you remember your shinigami ever talking about its powers?"

"Oh! I don't know. I just now remembered that I _had_ a shinigami. Misa-Misa is a popstar, not a savant. Give me a minute to think." Misa grumbled as she jutted her bottom lip out in a pouty expression.

"Take your time, Misa. Try to remember. This is not only critical for me, but for Light as well."

"How's that? How could me telling you about shinigami powers help Light? You just want to go out and arrest him, don't you?" Misa said as she played with the hem of her skirt.

"I'm not sure how Light was returned to this world. I don't know if he is fully human, or a hybrid like me, or maybe something entirely different. I don't know how much he knows or remembers. Finding him is as much for his own good as anything else. The more I understand about shinigami powers, the more I can do for myself, as well as for Light." L concluded calmly.

Misa ran on breathlessly. "Well, OK. I guess that makes sense. Rem didn't talk a whole lot about shinigami powers, or anything like that. A couple times, Rem indicated that different shinigamis had different powers. All shinigamis have Death Notes,but not all of them use them a lot. As a matter of fact, most don't. I do know that sometimes if Rem wasn't concentrating, or if she made sudden, aggressive moves, animals and plants and stuff would die. Not humans, though. Rem did say something about humans having a particularly strong will to live. Shinigamis see a person's true name, and how long they have to live, except in certain instances. Does any of that help?"

"Yes, it does. Do you remember anything else?" L gently prodded.

"Um, well, I think there is a head Shinigami called the Great One, and that shinigami can kill without a Death Note- humans, I mean. I also know the only way to kill a shinigami is through love. They have to love someone, and try to save them. " Misa stopped, and cocked her head. "OK- I've told you everything I know. Tell me about Light."

"Light was returned to life because of the mistake made by his shinigami, Ryuk, who incidentally was the one who killed Light. He's back. In what form, I'm not sure. I think he has a Death Note. I don't know where he is. If you could provide me with any places to look, that would be helpful."

Misa narrowed her eyes. "There is a place- if he has any memory at all- which I think he will go to. But I won't tell you where it is. You'll have to take me with you."

"That could be a problem, in your current condition." L pointed out as he unwrapped a lollypop.

"Oh they'll let me out. I just have to clear it beforehand. And check in like a good little girl. But that won't be a problem. Meet me here tomorrow, around 11:30. Don't be late. If you are, I'll go without you. I want to find Light! He's the only one I love, forever. I must be with him."

"You may not like what you find, Misa. I don't know what we will find, if we find him. I'll see you tomorrow. 11:30. Don't get any ideas and leave without me- it could cause you trouble with this institution." L gave Misa one final, meaningful look before standing, and walking to the door.

"Let's not be enemies, L. We're both back from the dead- we have too much in common to fight." Misa said to L's receding back.

L absently waved his hand in the air. Two small gnats suddenly fell out of the air to the carpet in Misa's apartment.


End file.
